


And All We've Ever Dreamed

by Lilian_Cho



Series: Marvel fairy tales [3]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Fairy Tales, Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Avengers as the Lost Boys, Blue-eyed Tony so comics Tony, Cap_Ironman Tiny Reverse Bang, Changing Tenses, Childhood, Friendship/Love, Gen, I'm Sorry, Kid Tony Stark, Lost Boy!Tony, M/M, Origin Story, Pastiche, Peter Pan!Steve, Present Tense is Neverland, Story within a Story, Tony Stark-centric, and Past Tense is dreams/memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:09:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilian_Cho/pseuds/Lilian_Cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(A/N: Diverges from <i>Marvel Fairy Tales</i> canon, heavier on J.M. Barrie's <i>Peter Pan</i> with a sprinkling of 616.)</p><p>~~~</p><p>“Why are you crying?” came a voice from the windowsill. It didn’t sound mocking or sympathetic, but merely curious.</p><p>Tony raised his face from the pillow that had been muffling his tears, and saw the shadow of a boy at the window. The boy came closer to his bed, trailing skeleton leaves behind him, and Tony saw that he had a lovely face and clear azure eyes.</p><p>“I was born with a hole in my heart. As I grow older my heart grows weaker, until it ultimately fails,” he said, “and I die.” Just this afternoon he thought he saw blue tinging his fingertips. His breath had grown short from the shock of this discovery that he fell in a dead faint. </p><p>The boy sat cross-legged on the rug on the floor. “If your heart fails, why don’t you get a new one?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[Fanart] Somewhere Between Reality](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7943149) by [Lilian_Cho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilian_Cho/pseuds/Lilian_Cho). 



> Look, this time I got to the flying scene in the first part! *pats self on back*  
> Considering it's my own fanart, I could've written this back in June, but of course inspiration only struck yesterday orz

Tony doesn’t remember the days before he was lost. None of them does—he doesn’t care what Thor says. (Thor is the first Lost Boy, and thus has been in Neverland the longest. Some days Tony suspects that Thor was there even before the Captain.) Tony is the second Lost Boy, back when he was called Starheart instead of Shellhead. After him comes Panther and then Hawk, also known as Hawkeye. (Before Hawk, there was a Lost Boy who tried to take the Wondrous Wasp away. They don’t talk about that boy.)

If Hawk, the newest Lost Boy, doesn’t remember the days from _before_ , how can the rest of them claim to remember anything? So no, Tony doesn’t have memories of the days before Neverland. What he does have, are dreams.

~~~

_a faraway land where time stands still_

“Why are you crying?” came a voice from the windowsill. It didn’t sound mocking or sympathetic, but merely curious.

Tony raised his face from the pillow that had been muffling his tears, and saw the shadow of a boy at the window. The boy came closer to his bed, trailing skeleton leaves behind him, and Tony saw that he had a lovely face and clear azure eyes.

“I was born with a hole in my heart. As I grow older my heart grows weaker, until it ultimately fails,” he said, “and I die.” Just this afternoon he thought he saw blue tinging his fingertips. His breath had grown short from the shock of this discovery that he fell in a dead faint. 

The boy sat cross-legged on the rug on the floor. “If your heart fails, why don’t you get a new one?” 

Tony opened his mouth and closed it. The boy did not seem to be a lunatic, but there was something otherworldly about him. In the dim lamplight, he could see that the outer shirt he wore was fashioned out of skeleton leaves.

“My heart is located inside my chest cavity,” Tony said slowly. “To replace it, they would need to cut me open. And a human heart isn’t something one can just procure.” If he didn’t bleed to death, the infection would finish him off.

The boy’s demeanor turned joyful. “I can get you a new heart!” He floated across the room and threw the windows open. The night was peppered with stars, which seemed to crowd around the mansion. He cried out to the night sky, and Tony thought he saw a shooting star.

The boy reached his arms out to the night, and came back with hands cupped around something impossibly bright. “I was talking to the second smallest star in the Milky Way; he has a lot of funny, wonderful ideas. He’s tired of looking on forever, and wants to take a part in the world.” 

He floated to the bed and placed the impossibly bright thing above Tony’s chest. “You have a new heart, and the star has a new life,” he said, opening his hands.

“Who are you?” Tony breathed out reverently. The little star was so wonderfully warm he wondered that his nightshirt was not singed. Already he could feel it beating strongly in his chest. 

“Steve. Where I come from, they call me the Captain.” Steve smiled sweetly at him. “I come from a faraway land where time stands still. Do you want to go on adventures with me?”

~~~

“Didn’t your mothers teach you any manners?” The girl that the Captain brought demands, after Hawk has almost shot her down from the sky.

Hawk is too busy apologizing to ask her what mothers are. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he says, hands covering his mask of purple feathers. Each of them apologizes in turn for the accident, Thor more grandly than all the others.

“Oh Thor, how many times do I have to tell you—girls just aren’t impressed by the accent,” Tony says, elbowing Thor out of the way. He has the vague idea that mothers were, once upon a time, girls themselves. “Hello, I’m called Shellhead. Care for a drink?” He offers her a juicy purple pomegranate, with the top sliced off and a bamboo straw sticking out.

The girl, whose name is Wanda, thanks him for the drink.

“All I remember about my mother,” Thor tells them, “is that she often said that my brother and I should be kind to each other.”

“What is a brother?” Hawk asks.

Tony is about to scoff at Thor’s ‘recollection,’ when something folded up small at the bottom of his mind floats to the surface.

_“Oh, why can’t you remain like this forever!”_

He cannot see whom the pretty voice belongs to, but Tony is sure in his heart of hearts that she is lovely. As he hears the voice, he can smell the sweet fragrance of flowers. She might have been his mother, or she might have been a dream; it is a pretty thought nonetheless.

Tony wonders if the lovely lady is happy now. After all, in Neverland he will remain like this forever.

~~~

_jump on the wind's back, and then away we go_

“Do you want to go on adventures with me?” Steve asked, smile sweet and sincere.

At that moment Tony would have followed him to the end of the world, and beyond. “Oh, to go on adventures together!” His arms went out to him. “With all my heart, Captain!”

Steve’s smile widened, and he gripped him and began to draw him toward the window.

“Wait, should we bring food and provisions with us?” Tony asked, because he was the sort of child who always thought ahead.

Steve frowned, and looked at Tony’s nightshirt and bare feet. “It is not a long flight to Neverland, but I suppose,” he said doubtfully, “you should dress a little warmer.”

He spotted the mohair Teddy’s bear sitting on Tony’s toy chest, and a soft red blanket at the foot of the bed. Tony hugged the bear to his chest, and Steve wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. “There, perfect.”

Steve had made-believed that the blanket was a bearskin, and Tony now wore a red fur cape that felt as soft as silk and as warm as wool. As he drew the hood over his head, he grinned when he touched the soft bear’s ears on the hood. 

“Splendid! I shall need sturdy boots too.” Getting into the spirit of things, he unearthed a pair of Wellington boots from under his bed, and grabbed the tea tray on top of the chest of drawers. He made-believe, and soon stood up in armor boots. 

“The color doesn’t look right…” The warm pulse in his chest seemed to agree. “Aha!” He rummaged inside one of the drawers and produced a Portuguese gold coin from a velvet pouch. Holding the gold coin in his right hand, he made-believe the armor boots into shiny golden color. Surveying the result, he nodded in approval and stowed the gold coin in his pocket.

Steve laughed delightedly. “I see I don’t need to teach you make-believe. If you can make-believe, flying is nothing at all.” 

“Oh, do let’s!” Tony said with great longing. All thoughts of provisions have left him. “ _How_ do you do it?”

“You think lovely wonderful thoughts,” Steve said, gesturing to the mantelpiece. Tony saw something golden and tinkling reflected in the mirror. “And a sprinkling of the wondrous Wasp’s fairy dust.”

A fairy, for that’s what it was, made herself known to Tony with a tinkling of bells. 

“Fairies are real!” Tony stared in awe at the little winged lady flying circles near his bedroom ceiling.

“And mermaids can sing, and stars can talk,” Steve said, in the tones of one used to such wonders. “As I was saying, most people need fairy dust to fly. You, Starheart, should be able to fly on your own.” He laid one finger on top of Tony’s heart.

Tony caught Steve’s hand and held it against his chest. The warm pulsing within him began to beat faster and faster. The wondrous Wasp flew a lazy loop around Steve’s head, anointing his blond hair with golden fairy dust. In a blink of an eye, their feet have left the floor, and their heads bobbed against the ceiling.

Steve took hold of Tony’s hand and drew him gently out of the window. Some of the stars winked at him, as if saying hello to their brethren inside his heart. 

“Now, flying’s easy once you’ve gotten the hang of it,” Steve told Tony, after they had flown high among the clouds. “Slipping between realities is a bit trickier…”

Tony let loose a rapturous laugh at that.

~~~


	2. Chapter 2

“A brother is someone you have to protect,” Thor intones sagely. “Someone you get into fights with, and someone you share your mother’s kisses with.” 

“Aren’t we brothers, then? Us Lost Boys?” Hawks asks. Tony can tell that he’s frowning under his elaborate feather mask. “What are kisses?” Tony would like to know that too, but doesn’t want to seem unworldly in front of Wanda. Other than the wondrous Wasp, who has been with the Lost Boys for _ever_ , they have no female companionship. (Mermaids don’t count.)

Wanda smiles kindly at Hawk. “A kiss is a small token of your love for someone.” 

_A small token…_ He pats down the chest piece of his armor and rummages inside his fur cape before finding what he was looking for. Turning to face Steve, he finds that his Captain was already looking at him. Steve always seems to know when Tony wants his attention.

[“Now Captain,”](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6140610) Tony says, voice softly echoing in his metal helmet, “shall I give you a kiss?”

“If you please,” Steve says expectantly.

Tony holds out his hand and drops a gleaming nut into Steve’s upturned palm. In the way his invention works in Neverland, the nut is a key that will unlock his suit of armor. The Captain knows this and the significance of the kiss without being told.

“Thank you, Shellhead. I shall always wear your kiss around my neck,” Steve solemnly promises. 

They smile delightedly at each other. Steve can always tell when he’s smiling, even though he rarely takes off his helmet.

“That is not what my mother’s kisses look like, but it is a magnificent kiss nonetheless,” Thor says loyally.

Overhead comes faint laughter and a tinkle of bells. _Silly boys._ Tony hardly hears her—the warmth in his chest spreading as he watches Steve put his kiss on a string and tie it around his neck. In the background Hawk is cajoling Thor and Panther to give him kisses.

Wanda looks like she wants to laugh like Wasp did, but is too well-mannered to do so. 

“Speaking of brothers, we should walk faster to find mine.”

~~~

_to them make-believe and true were exactly the same thing_

As they slipped between one reality to the next, Steve told Tony stories about the inhabitants of Neverland. He learned that there was another Lost Boy, and he was to be the second one. (“Thor has a brother,” Steve said, “but he chooses to live on a frozen island farthest from Neverland.”) 

Tony, on account of his illness, hardly knew any children his own age, and he was anxious about meeting his new companion. 

“Thor is Thor, you’ll like him,” Steve assured him. “And he’ll like you, Starheart. The two of you are Lost Boys now.” 

Perhaps it is the words ‘Lost Boys,’ or perhaps it was the strength of Steve’s belief, but Tony could not help but feel his worries ebb away.

To Tony’s surprise, Steve then warned him not of pirates, but of mermaids.

“You know never to trust a pirate, but mermaids are the more cunning and treacherous of the two,” he said in the gravest tone Tony ever heard him use, then and ever after. “If they know what you are, Starheart, they will drag you to their coral caves under the sea.”

His new heart beat madly in his chest, and his mouth went dry. “And what am I?”

“You are Starheart, a boy reborn in the heart of a star.” 

Tony wanted to protest, because _Shouldn’t it be the other way around_ , but the pulsing in his chest chose that time to greet his fellow stars in the new sky. 

“If it is dangerous for them to learn who I am, then I shouldn’t go by Starheart anymore,” Tony pointed out sensibly. They circled around a tall bell tower. It was now their second city and their third shift. 

Spotting a metal bucket forgotten in a corner, he snatched it up by the handle. He took off his hood, put the bucket over his head, and thought of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. Dragging his hands down the front of his nightshirt, he made-believe a suit of golden armor, leaving a circular window in front of his chest so his star could look out into the world. A gem red as fire served to disguise the light emanating from his chest. As a finishing touch, he made-believe a sturdy pair of metal-and-leather gauntlets. 

He turned to the Captain with a triumphant smile, before remembering that his face was hidden by his new helmet. 

“How clever of you!” Steve exclaimed, clapping appreciatively. 

Tony rose up a few inches in the air and bowed to him beautifully.

“You look very gallant in your armor, Star—” Steve paused, then grinned. “—Shellhead. In that armor, you’ll be ready for any adventure that comes our way!”

~~~

As they walk over the ridge to where the Wasp saw Wanda’s brother land, Tony regals Wanda with stories of how the Lost Boys earned their skins—or, in Hawk’s case, feathers.

“During his many travels, Thor hunted the Blue Ice Wolf that lived in the frozen wastes of Jotunn Isle. One snap of its mighty maw, and you’ve lost an arm!” Hawk growls on cue. Wanda giggles.

“After Panther fought a fierce battle that lasted seven days and seven nights, the spirits of the land appeared before him in a dream, rewarding him for his bravery in defending the natives of the land.” Hawk promptly starts roaring and yowling. Thor informs him that the spirits aren’t that noisy; otherwise, they will never be able to sleep at night.

“The Black Panther spirit is a noble warrior-protector of the land,” Panther says solemnly. “It was an honor to be graced by their presence.”

“Ooh, tell her my story next, Shellhead!” Hawks says excitedly. “You always have the best, _beautiful-est_ way in telling stories.” 

Always eager to indulge an appreciative audience, Tony begins, “Many moons ago, we heard tales of a most foul creature terrorizing the mermaids in the lagoon.”

“Mermaids!” Wanda claps her hands together in delight. Tony quite likes mermaids himself, but Steve thinks them treacherous.

“Every time the mermaids sunned themselves on the rocks, the creature would swoop down with a most fearsome screech and outstretched talons, ready to snatch up its unsuspecting prey.” None of them is unkind enough to say that the bird is nowhere big enough to snatch up a mermaid child, let alone a full-grown one.

“During one of my chats with the mermaids—” Steve, who had been quiet through the stories so far, snorts. “During one of our lovely chats, in which the mermaids didn’t splash me even _once_ , or tug on my feet,” he continues, “they implored me for the Lost Boys’ help.” 

“On the next day, when the sun burned hot and bright in the sky, Hawk took his trusty bow and arrows and set out to Marooners’ Rock. The mermaids were basking in the sun and combing out their gleaming dark hair. Our valiant hero stayed hidden in the tree line, waiting for the winged monster to reveal itself.

“Sure enough, an ungodly shriek rent the idyllic scene as a shadow darted across the sky.” The Wasp helpfully darts above their heads, screaming loudly for a fairy, which is not very loud at all.

“Hawk, ever on the ready, drew his bowstring taut—” Hawk grins and flexes his right arm. Steve and Thor both give him playful knocks on his head—gently and with good humor, because it is an awfully good story about him. “—and let loose an arrow straight and true.” The Panther abandons his dignity for a moment to make the whooshing sound of an arrow.

And so great is the Lost Boys’ make-believe, that Wanda can hear the _thwap_ sound of an arrow striking home, clear as anything.

“The monster gave a shriek and fell spiraling down, shedding shadowy feathers in its wake.” Steve flies ahead of them, and mimes a great bird falling out of the sky.

“What’s this?” Tony cries out, approaching the Captain’s unmoving form on the ground. “The dark monster that Hawk had struck down, was none other than a purple bird of paradise!”

Cries of dismay come from the whole group, caught up in the story. The Wasp lets out a mournful tinkle.

“The bird of paradise became a monster of shadows after they lost their mate and eggs. A cannon boom from a pirate ship had upset their nest, causing the eggs to dash to pieces on the rocks below.” Tony kneels next to Steve, head bowed. “These are the self-same rocks that the mermaids lie on to bask in the sun. The bird, lost in a haze of grief and rage, only knew that the mermaids were disturbing their family’s last resting place.”

“Upon learning the true story behind the bird’s rage, Hawk laid down his bow and arrows and led a dance in memory of the bird of paradise and their family.”

At these words, Hawk offers a hand to Wanda, and Thor and Panther bow to each other. Steve rises gracefully and gently pulls Tony to his feet. The Lost Boys and Wanda have long flowing skins and nightgown, like the tails of the bird of paradise. As the pairs whirl and flutter around each other, the Captain’s tunic grows and trails longer behind him. Above their heads, the Wasp and a white butterfly flutter and swoop around in a similar dance.

Crossing their left forearms, the dancers rise to their tiptoes then step flat on their feet, circling each other in a silent rhythm. Wanda somehow knows every step to the dance, turning and leaping at the correct places.

“As the dance came to an end,” Tony says, voice a little breathless, “the bird of paradise bestowed their last song to the inhabitants of Neverland.” He and Steve stand facing each other. The dancers stand still, at the edge of an exhale.

“Even though Hawk did not understand the language of birds, the bird of paradise made it understood that their nest laid safe on top of the tallest tree overlooking Marooners’ Rock. Birds of paradise built their nests with their own beautiful white and purple tail feathers, you see. With their last dying notes, the bird gifted their nest to Hawk in thanks for the beautiful dance.

“And that was how Hawk earned his purple feathers,” Tony says. All around him, everyone let out a sigh at the end of the tale.

Hawk jumped onto his back and hugged him, knocking his helmet askew. “ _Thank you_ , Shellhead. That was even better than the last time you told the story.” 

“Indeed our Shellhead is a bard of great talent,” Thor says in agreement. “I request a full recounting of my adventure tomorrow, and Panther’s the next.”

Tony grins and blushes under his helmet. He loves the Lost Boys, and his Captain most of all.

“What about _your_ story, Shellhead?” Wanda asks, curious. “Did you wrestle a red bear in the Neverland forest?”

“I don’t—” Tony starts to say. _Remember,_ he finishes in his head. But that can’t be right. How can he remember the other Lost Boys’ adventures so clearly and nothing of his own?

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully one more chapter to finish this fic =) I'll probably work on Time Blasts next before going back to this though.  
> Guess who's now regretting the tense shifts between sections. (Made even trickier by the story-within-story in the Neverland part. Hahaha.)
> 
> Here is my usual plea for a beta! (For either fic, or both.) Pretty please with a sprinkle of fairy dust?

**Author's Note:**

> PSA: Peter Pan is a disturbing book. Even the revised version is disturbing.
> 
> As the tags said, present tense is Neverland, and past tense is Tony's dreams/memories. Do tell me if it's distracting!  
> Currently unbeta-ed, so please do point out SpaG errors. Thank you!


End file.
